Jellyfish

Water Temperaturepredicted to increase due to air temperature increase

Salinitypredicted to increase in some rivers due to sea level rise, also may seasonally decrease due to increasing storm activity

Stream Flowmay increase or decrease depending on storm activity

Zooplankton(food source) abundance, which is reliant on phytoplankton bloom timing, location and abundance

Jellyfish medusae are found within a narrow range of water temperatures (26 – 30 C) and salinities (10 – 16 ppt). The occurrence of these conditions is a good predictor of the presence of jellyfish (Decker et al. 2007). In some areas, there is evidence that jellyfish populations are increasing in response to changing climate (Brodeur et al. 1999, Mills 2001). See the NOAA sea-nettle forcasting page for an interactive jellyfish habitat model built on salinity and temperature distributions.

Streamflow into the Chesapeake Bay, from January-June explains about 2/3 of the variation in jellyfish counts in Solomons, MD (Cargo and King 1990). During wet years, medusae appear late in the season in the mainstem of the Bay. In normal and dry years, the medusae appear earlier in the year and are found in the Bay tributaries (Decker et al. 2007). Medusae are produced in shallow water at approximately 17 C, while the upper lethal temperature is 34 C (Cargo and Schultz 1967).